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Brax the Dwarf
| upkeep_cost = | req = None | moves = | melee = | ranged = | defense = | resist = | hits = * | item_slot_1 = | item_slot_2 = | item_slot_3 = | abilities = Mountaineer Constitution | random_abilities = None }} Brax the Dwarf (also known as "Brax the Berserker" in some source material) is one of the 35 Hero units featured in Master of Magic. Brax is a non-Champion Hero. He may randomly appear for hire, in which case his Hiring Cost is by default. Alternatively, Brax can be summoned using the Summon Hero spell (or through partial failure of the Summon Champion spell), and can occasionally be found as a Prisoner reward after a successful Encounter. Brax is a respectable early-game Melee Attacker, relying primarily on plenty of to endure repeated Melee combat. This is helped by the Constitution ability which increases even further as Brax gains Experience. As a Dwarf, Brax also possesses uncannily-high to magic and magical effects. On the other hand, Brax has a relatively-low score for a Melee-oriented Hero. Brax may be equipped with the basic fare of Magical Items. He will not be able to cast spells, and thus can focus on gaining an even greater increase to his brute attack strength, or acquiring bonuses (to offset his initial deficiency in this field). Furthermore, Brax feels at home in mountainous terrain, and can cross Mountain, Hill and Volcano tiles at a cost of only 1 Movement Point. Brax's Upkeep Cost is per turn. General Description Brax the Dwarf is a member of the Dwarf race - short humanoids with thick beards. They prefer living in the mountains, and preferably underground, so Brax feels comfortable in such terrain and can navigate through it easily. Brax has a somewhat unsettling appearance: he has a white beard, a horned helmet, a large earring in his left ear, and a crazy look in his eye. These give away his "Berserking" personality - a lust for battle that is so powerful that he can easily forget to defend himself from the enemy's attacks! Fortunately, as a Dwarf, Brax is also quite tough and will not succumb to wounds very easily. Furthermore, like all Dwarves, Brax possesses an almost unnatural immunity to magical energy, so he does not fear enemy spellcasters as most other units do. In the game, Brax is portrayed as wearing a red shirt and riding a golden pony. Initial Properties All data below assumes Brax is at his lowest Experience Level, and without any Magical Items or Random Abilities - After all, any Hero can become devastatingly powerful after gaining several levels and powerful items. Please refer to the tables and chapters below for more information. Attack Properties Brax the Dwarf possesses only a Melee Attack of fairly-average strength. It has a default strength of . With a basic To Hit chance of , he can be expected to deliver about per attack. This is not a very strong attack, but is not too bad for a low-level Hero. It does however mean that Brax will need to make many attacks to destroy any enemy unit - putting himself at risk in the process. Defensive Properties By default, Brax the Dwarf has a relatively-low Defense score compared to other Melee-oriented Heroes, at only . This enables him to block, on average, about from any damage source. Expect Brax to take damage often, at least until he can gain plenty of Experience and/or acquire strong armor. On the other hand, Brax possesses a Dwarf's Constitution, meaning that even if wounded repeatedly, he can still fight on for a long time. At basic level, Brax has , plus an additional from his Constitution ability, for a total of . This will grow very rapidly as Brax gains Experience! Furthermore, like other Dwarves, Brax has a mysterious innate ability to ward off evil magic. His default Resistance score is , one of the highest of any Hero. This alone makes Brax immune to a variety of Curses, Special Attacks and some other spells. With each additional Experience Level he gains, Brax will become immune to a wider and wider variety - until he can become immune to virtually all such ill effects! Other Properties Brax the Dwarf has a basic Hero's Movement Allowance of . This is good for speeding up his movement on the overland map. It is also useful during combat, to close with the enemy rapidly and escape quickly if the need arises. Furthermore, Brax possesses the Mountaineer ability. This allows him to enter any Hill, Mountain or Volcano tile at a cost of only 1 Movement Point. Any units stacked with Brax enjoy the same benefit, so that the entire stack can move rapidly through Mountainous terrain. On the other hand, both Brax and his stack must pay 3 Movement Points to enter any Grassland tile. Experience The following table illustrates how Brax's various skills and attributes increase as he gains Experience. The effects of the Constitution ability have already been calculated into the values below. Since Brax never receives any extra Random Abilities, the following values are correct for every game you play. Average Damage Output The following table shows Brax's average output with each of his attacks, based on his current Experience Level. Note that this table completely ignores bonuses from Magical Items, if any. Improvement Overview As with any other Hero, Brax can eventually become very powerful as he gains Experience. Nonetheless, he is quite weak at the lower levels. Brax's will improve with Experience to some degree, but he will never be as truly powerful as some other Melee-oriented Heroes. On the other hand, Brax's start very high, and will soar even higher with each additional level. By the time he reaches , he is almost twice as healthy as any other Hero, and can fight prolonged battles before succumbing to his wounds. As a result, it is often a good idea to accompany Brax with a support-hero or other unit possessing the Healer ability, so that he can replenish his rapidly after long battles. Ability Overview Constitution * This Hero receives to his maximum health per each Experience Level, including the first level. Mountaineer * This unit may move through any Hills, Mountain or Volcano tile at a rate of 1 Movement Point per tile. * When this unit is stacked with other units, the entire stack may move through these tiles at a rate of 1 Movement Point per tile. * On the other hand, traveling into Grassland tiles costs this unit and its stack exactly 3 Movement Points. Random Abilities Brax the Dwarf has no Random Abilities. Therefore, his various attributes will be exactly the same each time you play the game. This makes Brax more predictable. He will never be any less or more useful than this article describes. Equipment Brax the Dwarf has the following item slots: This set-up contributes primarily to Melee combat. This is excellent for Brax, who is essentially a Melee-oriented unit. Recommended Items Brax has two main options when choosing his items: He can focus on increasing his Melee Attack in order to inflict more damage, or focus on his already-high to make himself even more resilient. Alternatively, it is possible to focus on offsetting Brax's deficiency in . As a non-Caster, Brax has no use for items that increase spell-casting skills. Weapon :Brax will do equally well with a Sword, Mace or Axe. The only difference is whether or not you want to augment Brax's low score with bonuses from his weapon. If you can find a good armor piece instead, try to get an Axe with powerful attack properties. Otherwise, consider a Sword with some extra bonus. :Any weapon with bonuses is probably better off in the hands of some other Hero. Armor :Since Brax's rating is lower than normal, some players will try to acquire a very heavy armor for him to use. However, the importance of heavy armor decreases as Brax gains Experience, since he will end up with plenty of to soak up damage anyway. :On the other hand, Brax has little use for Movement or bonuses. Therefore, stronger bonuses are pretty much the only option remaining. Again, any bonuses you can acquire will certainly help. :Note also that Shields are often less desirable, though they may protect this Hero from powerful enemy Ranged Attackers. Jewelry :Brax can benefit from only half of the available Jewelry bonuses, namely , and bonuses. Spell-casting bonuses can be ignored entirely, and bonuses won't help much thanks to Brax's already-impressive Resistance score. Acquisition Brax the Dwarf can be acquired in one of four different methods: * By hiring him as he comes to visit your Fortress town, * By casting the Summon Hero or Summon Champion spells, * By rescuing him from an Encounter zone, * By Resurrecting him after he has been killed in battle. Hiring Brax Every once in a while, a Hero will arrive at your Fortress town to ask for employment. The frequency of this event depends on your current score, the number of Heroes already under your employ, and whether or not you have particular Retorts that affect this chance. In order for Brax to appear for hire in this way, you must meet several requirements: # You must have sufficient in your treasury to hire Brax (more on this below). # Brax must not have already been killed in battle. Note that '''Brax' does not care about your wizard's score - he is not picky about whom he serves.'' Since the game randomly chooses which Hero appears during this event, there's no guarantee that Brax will ever appear. The chance, however, increases if the number of other valid Heroes dwindles (such as when most other Heroes have died in battle). The default Hiring Cost for Brax is . This is reduced to if your wizard has the Charismatic Retort. If you do not have this much at the start of a turn (after paying all Upkeep Costs), Brax will not appear for hire. In fact, if he is picked as the Hero who approaches you, and you lack the money to hire him, you are effectively forfeiting your chance to hire any Hero this turn. After agreeing to hire Brax (you can always refuse), you may give him any name you choose - he will be known as " the Dwarf". His overland unit will appear at your Fortress town or, if that town's garrison is full, next to your Fortress town. Summoning Brax As a non-Champion hero, Brax the Dwarf can be summoned using either the Summon Hero or Summon Champion spells. However, Summon Champion only has a chance to bring Brax to you if all Champions are unavailable at the time. Once the spell is completed, the game chooses a random Hero to bring to your Fortress from a list of all available and valid Heroes. Therefore, there is no guarantee that Brax will appear when these spells are cast, unless all other Heroes are unavailable. Again, you get a chance to agree or refuse to hire Brax. If you agree, he will appear in your Fortress town and/or next to it. If Brax is hired through the use of Summon Hero or Summon Champion, there is no need to pay any Hiring Cost. However, you may still need to pay an Upkeep Cost (see below). Rescuing Brax On defeating an Encounter of at least moderate difficulty, there is a small chance that your reward will include a Prisoner previously held captive in this Encounter zone. The game can randomly pick any non-Champion Hero to be rescued in this way - except Heroes that have already died while in your service. Your and are disregarded, and there is no need to pay any Hiring Costs. Note that if the army that beats that particular Encounter already contains 9 units, you will never be rewarded with a Prisoner. Resurrecting Brax For most wizards, losing Brax in battle removes him from the game permanently. He will never appear again. For -wielding wizards, however, who have access to the Resurrection spell, it is possible to bring Brax back to life after he has died. In this case, Brax returns to your Fortress town, with no Magical Items, but keeping all Experience he had prior to his death. You may repeatedly resurrect Brax each time he dies. Upkeep Costs Once Brax is in your employ, you must pay him an Upkeep Cost of at the start of each and every turn. Failure to pay this price due to lack of results in Brax leaving your employ. This is not permanent however: Brax may still be acquired in any of the above methods with no penalty. Alternate Names Other wizards can also have a Dwarf, but they are different characters (what happens to one has no effect on the others), and go by different names, as follows: Category:Units Category:Heroes Category:Non-Champions